Express Take Down Rainiers 5-3 Thanks to Extra Innings

TACOMA, Wash. – The Round Rock Express (10-4 | 54-34) and Tacoma Rainiers (7-7 | 44-45) played 12 innings on Saturday night at Cheney Stadium as the Express pulled away with a 5-3 victory in game two of the series.

Express reliever RHP Alex Speas (1-0, 2.35) earned the win, tossing 2.0 shutout innings and recording four strikeouts. Rainiers reliever RHP Taylor Williams (3-1, 7.47) was tagged with the loss after allowing the two winning runs to score, one of which was earned, during 2.0 innings. Round Rock RHP Marc Church earned the save with one scoreless frame.

Along the Train Tracks:

• After two scoreless innings, Tacoma struck first and took a 3-0 lead in the third inning. LF Cade Marlowe and 3B Didi Gregorius hit back-to-back singles before 1B Jake Scheiner cleared the bases with a home run.
• Round Rock 1B Blaine Crim made it a 3-2 game with a two-run dinger in the top of the fourth inning. Crim’s longball scored teammate DH Sam Huff, who had worked a two-out walk.
• Both teams stayed off the board for the next four innings before the Express tied things up in the ninth. C Matt Whatley knocked a single before scoring on a double from RF J.P. Martinez.
• Round Rock broke the tie in the 12^th inning when 2B Dio Arias hit a single to score SS Jonathan Ornelas, who started the frame on second base. A bunt single from Whatley moved Arias to third base before CF Bubba Thompson sent Arias home on a sacrifice fly. A flyout, groundout and strikeout ended the game at 5-3.

E-Train Excerpts:

• Express 1B Blaine Crim launched his third home run in as many games on Saturday night when he hit a two-run home run in the game’s fourth inning.
• Saturday marked the first time this season that Round Rock has played into extra innings on the road. The Express are 3-0 when playing extras at home, with one of the home wins coming against Tacoma on April 13.
• Round Rock’s pitching staff tallied a season-high 20 strikeouts during the contest. RHP Chase Lee and RHP Alex Speas each struck out four, RHP Fer Ozuna and RHP Yerry Rodriguez finished with three, RHP Edwar Colina and LHP Jake Latz both recorded two and RHP Cole Winn and RHP Marc Church each had one.
• The Express advance to 54-34 on the season, 20 games above .500. The 88-game mark is the second quickest to 20 games above .500 in club history since the 2006 team was 51-31 on July 1.

Next up: Round Rock and Tacoma will play in the three-game series finale at Cheney Stadium on Sunday afternoon. Express RHP Owen White (1-0, 5.25) is scheduled to start up against Rainiers RHP Adam Oller (--, --). First pitch is set for 3:35 p.m. CT.

Single game tickets as well as full season and mini season membership plans are on sale now. For more information about the Express, visit RRExpress.com or call (512) 255-2255. Subscribe to the E-Train email newsletter and keep up with the Express on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter!